electric stove top options?

[joeyib]

Ive been going back and forth with getting a coleman 2 burner camp stove but it just seems so wasteful running that and running my mr buddy. so i guess this is a two part question. how fast do you guys go through the 1lb tanks if making coffee every morning and cooking meals? also is there a 12v option like a convection heater that can run of our solar battery bank?

 

[highdesertranger]

heating anything with electricity is very inefficient. highdesertranger

 

[MrNoodly]

Both a stove and the heater can be hooked up to big propane tanks. Just switch the hose from one to the other as needed.

Besides, most cooks prefer a gas burner because they heat up faster and can be adjusted more rapidly.

 

[joeyib]

Both a stove and the heater can be hooked up to big propane tanks. Just switch the hose from one to the other as needed.

Besides, most cooks prefer a gas burner because they heat up faster and can be adjusted 

I understand both points but I really don't have any room for a big tank anywhere in my build. Hour fast do the small tanks empty

 

[MrNoodly]

If you don't have room for a 20lb tank, then you probably don't have room for all the batteries it would take to cook with electricity.

 

[joeyib]

Not to open up a can of worms, but does everyone on this forum come with a sarcastic condescending tone with all of their responses? Forums like this are place of community and learning and a place to ask questions of things we might not understand. I understand I can just Google 12v cook top and find things all over but most reviews on amazon are paid for now or a fake purchase to boost a sale, so asking real people with real knowledge helps better ones understanding. Not everyone on here has been doing this for years and not all of us are trying to live out an instagram Pintrist fantasy.

 

[jimindenver]

Joey

I think it depends on what stove and what you are cooking but I would think there would be a general average. It has been a long time since I use the 1 pounders for camping but it doesn't seem like we were going through them left and right.

I use a dual hot plate for cooking but only because the smaller side uses less than the solar puts out. It's slower so I set the pan on it and then prepare the meal. By the time I'm ready, so is the pan.

Roadpro has a few 12v cooking items. A small oven, fry pan, sauce pan ad slow cooker. Usable but you need a source of power or run down your bank. ( solar, grid power, alternator, generator)

 

[Almost There]

None of the above replies were with any sarcasm or condescending manner whatsoever.

They were written by people who have years of experience in living full-time in their vans.

If a 20 lb tank is simply not possible because you're living in a small car then 5 lb refillable tanks are available but would require refilling 4 times as often as a 20 lb tank. If you're in anything as big or bigger than an Astro/Safari van then perhaps some help with layout of your interior might assist you in finding sufficient room for a tank.

120 V electricity for cooking is extremely hard to provide for in a vehicle. It requires very large battery banks, a pricey inverter and a large solar installation costing well over a grand, probably more in the range of 2. The solar also requires either large storage space if portable or a very large roof. The other alternative is to use 120V electricity only when running a generator. A generator large enough to power electric stoves, etc. is at least as large as the 20 lb propane tank plus you must carry the gas can.

To directly answer your question about 1 lb tanks - you might get as little as 4 to 6 hours of Mr. Buddy heat time on low from a small tank. Cooking wise, you will probably go through a tank in three or four days depending on what you're cooking and how you cook it (ie, letting spaghetti noodles finish cooking with the stove turned off - takes a few minutes longer but saves gas). At an average of $4.00 per tank, it can get costly in a hurry as well as inconvenient having to purchase, store and safely dispose of the tanks.

 

[joeyib]

thank you for the information i was by no means trying to start anything or look like im getting butt hurt, my layout is already built so a tank location will wind up taking up storage space

 

[DannyB1954]

Not to open up a can of worms, but does everyone on this forum come with a sarcastic condescending tone with all of their responses? 

You took it as condescending, but the reality is they are correct. Say an electric stove takes 1,500 watts. Divide that by 12 and you get 125 amps, (watts is volts times amps). That would be for one burner. Bob did a favorites video. On there was an electric cooker that can be used while you drive, It is about the size of a lunchbox. You can heat up a can of soup or two in it. If you know that you will be driving for another hour or so, it is handy. Your meal will be hot on your arrival. 

For things like microwave ovens, cooking hot plates, air conditioners, you will need a generator. You could in theory do it all with PV solar panels, but you would need a roof the size of a Class A motorhome. 

Your options are propane, butane, gasoline or Coleman fuel, (in a newer Coleman stove), kerosene, alcohol, or solid fuel like wood or sterno type fuel. The most popular would be the propane, (available everywhere, no spilling mess). Most people I have heard talk about it say a small propane bottle will last them about two weeks, (if used for cooking). About a day if you use it for heating. They make a one and a 2 1/2 gallon propane tank, ( in another Bob video. Note I said gallon and not pound), and also described in the store link at the top of this page. http://www.cheaprvliving.com/cheap-solar-living-store/

 

[Reducto]

For a while I was doing all my cooking in a cheap 110v rice cooker. As long as I was driving every day it was great! I believe it was in the 200 watt range so it didn't take a big inverter. It was good for rice obviously, steamed vegetables, noodles, soups, and fish. I used paraboiled rice so it didn't take too long and any meat had to be pre-cooked.

If you already have some sort of inverter that might be worth a shot. They're only about $15-20.

As soon as I stopped driving so much I ran into battery issues and had to switch to propane.

How much propane you use will vary widely depending on what type of cooking you do. Heating up 2 cups of water or cooking eggs takes very little. Anything that requires longer cooking times will suck the small bottles down pretty quick.

 

[MrNoodly]

At an average of $4.00 per tank, it can get costly in a hurry as well as inconvenient having to purchase, store and safely dispose of the tanks.

This is why most fulltimers avoid the green bottles. Other camp stove fuels have the same drawbacks.

12V electrical appliances, like the RoadPro oven or their frying pan, draw a lot of power, by vehicle standards. They were created for truckers, who are constantly driving and therefore constantly charging their batteries. I have a RoadPro oven, but only use it when there is still plenty of daylight to recharge the batteries. Using it or some other electrical cooking device for every meal wouldn't work for me—or most vandwellers.

 

[joeyib]

thanks for all the information guys, like i said i was not trying to start anything, but I have been apart of forums before where it seemed like it was a mission for some people to just corrects and belittle people for asking the most basic of questions. A big part of this traveling and van living for me is to stretch my savings as far as i can. I will not have any income after the 1st of the year but i have saved roughly 15k to live off of until i have to find something part time, so I'm tying to save money where I can and be able to use my solar as much as i can for everything and buying propane tanks every few days seems like it will add up very fast, not to mention i will be in farms and national parks for most of my travels. I will try and utilize a camp fire as much as i can but that is just not practical when it is raining or 15 degrees outside.

 

[frater secessus]

1# propane bottles are very expensive compared to 20#.  If you want to stick to 1# for Buddy I'd pick up a coleman fuel stove.  If you have room for a dual burner "suitcase" that's good but a single burner "sportster" stores in a coffee can.  Fuel comes in 1gal rectangular cans which is easy to pack.

Edit:  gasifying twig stoves have really come down in price.  Lots of $20 SilverFire clones getting great reviews on Amazon.   Ohuhu, Lixada, etc.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Ive been going back and forth with getting a coleman 2 burner camp stove but it just seems so wasteful running that and running my mr buddy. so i guess this is a two part question. how fast do you guys go through the 1lb tanks if making coffee every morning and cooking meals?

I use a Coleman grill/stove combination cooking two meals a day: bacon and eggs, grilled meat.  I get 8 to 10 days off of a green 1 lb bottle.  I get about 6 hours of heat from a Mr Buddy heater using a 1 lb bottle.

also is there a 12v option like a convection heater that can run of our solar battery bank?

Glenn Morsette(sp) of http://www.tosimplify.net cooked for a while on an induction plate.  If I remember right he had ~ 400W solar and ~ 400 AH battery.

Probably one of the cheapest stoves to run is a Coleman 2 burner running on white gas.  One has to be careful on startup as they flare but I have used their single burner backpacking stove in a small tent, so it is doable.  ~ $180 new or you can sometimes find them used in Thrift stores.  Fuel can be purchased in quarts or gallons at Walmart.

 -- Spiff

 

[frater secessus]

There is a Coleman suitcase at the local thrift shop for $5. I have 3 now (maybe 4) so I don't need another one.

The starting flare-up is because the "generator" (fuel gasification/supply tube running across the burner) is not up to temp so the stove is getting liquid fuel. ONce the gen is hot enough to vaporize the fuel the flame cleans up. You can work around this by priming the stove. A small amount of methanol like yellow Heet, maybe .25oz, on the burner will light and preheat the generator. Just before the alcohol flame goes out crack the fuel knob on the stove. Not mandatory, but many folks are put off by the starting flare and this can make it less dramatic.

 

[jimindenver]

There's a reason I explain what gear I have when saying what I do with my solar, it takes a lot to do what most think is a little. I too will have no income and need the solar to stretch things out as much as possible to save the limited funds I am getting out of here with. Even with the trailer and truck I can't take it all with me. I have to find a balance between what I want to keep and what I have to have.

Is there anyway to mount a tank on a back door? Have you seen a Sunflair solar cooker? It folds flat and will work at minus 20 if it's sunny. You could make one from a windshield reflector, a oven bag and a black pot. Other options could be using a wrap to keep your pot hot and cooking once you heat it up with the stove. A pressure cooker takes less time and once under pressure can be put in the same wrap to keep the pressure up. Small meals in small pots use less gas.

I hope you find the balance.

 

[MrNoodly]

Coleman fuel is about $13/gallon.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-Liquid-Fuel-1-Gallon/20703040

 

[closeanuf]

When I moved out of a 42ft TT with 3 slides into a 22ft TT with no slides I had to downsize.  I've been in the 22ft for a year and have redone things a couple times.  I'm in the process of building a Dodge van now.  One of the things I have noticed on this forum is that a number of people seem to redo their vans as they live in them because what they thought was prefect needed to be redone or refined.  It will be interesting to see how this works out for you.

I think most of us understand the limited funds issue !

 

[steamjam1]

Price is the main reason I moved away from white-gas, and propane stoves. Coleman fuel is roughly $14 a gallon. Propane is expensive is you go 1lb bottle at a time. I went to gasoline fuel stoves and a gallon of unleaded in my area is $2.59 at the moment. One gallon will last me roughly 2 weeks when I use the stove twice a day.

I never tried electric stoves in vans only because they require alot more power then either my solar, or batteries can feed for very long. If you have shore power, then yeah its almost ideal.